"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly"
From Czars to America-hating radicals to avowed Marxists and Communists to criminal organizations surrounding our President, this administration is taking America into a dark and unprecedented direction. With crony corporatism large at work mixed in with corrupt politics, you have yourself a toxic cocktail that is an ever growing cancer spreading throughout our entire landscape. So much is at stake and as our country continues to spiral more out of control, we are left with more doubts regarding the future of our great nation. We must continue to remain vigilant and engaged.
Let Me Know When You Get It
by Ted Nugent – 07/17/2010
One has to jack up one’s imagination to try to come up with dumber decisions from our flagrantly corrupt, out-of-control government than those occurring daily in America today.
Americans are tested more and more to convince ourselves that the rookie in chief, his Mao Tse-tung fan-club administration and gang of anti-American czars could possibly be that stupid or, horror of horrors, are in fact intentionally steering the good-ship America into the rocks.
How else to explain these developments:
• Appointing self avowed Marxists and Communists like Van Jones and Cass Sunstein et al. to be in charge of anything in America is clear and present treason from where I stand.
• Having your administration’s communications director look to Mao Tse-tung for philosophical direction is phenomenally crazy.
• Surrounding yourself with America-hating radicals like Bill Ayers, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and SEIU union gangsters shows us who you are.
• Praising the bizarre cult of ACORN and turning a blind eye to their criminal activities is the act of a collaborator.
• Accelerating a maniacal spending orgy as unaccountable debt piles up at unprecedented rates is economic suicide by any sane soul’s measure.
• Banning the development of America’s energy resources as our enemies hold us hostage is aiding and abetting those enemies.
• Appointing a self-claimed hater of the free market with promises of redistributing wealth to be in charge of Medicare, Medicaid and America’s new healthcare debacle is sabotage of the highest order.
• Suing Arizona for passing a law that simply enforces federal immigration laws while ignoring the criminal violations of sanctuary cities is the act of the enemy of the state, clearly siding with illegal invaders.
• Directing the Department of Justice to drop charges against Black Panther thugs caught on film breaking federal law is insubordination and dereliction of duty.
• Rudely alienating America’s top allies shows just which side you are on.
• Bailing out wildly wealthy, criminally irresponsible bankers and crony mortgage outfits without the permission of taxpayers is mutiny.
• Appointing racists Supreme Court justices is anti-American.
• Condemning police officers and rhetorically siding with a friend while admitting not knowing the facts in a case is unpresidential.
• Increasing welfare to your constituency in the face of runaway corruption and abuse is soulless pandering.
• Offering amnesty to illegal invaders is obvious voter baiting.
• Directing NASA to reach out to Muslims is illogical rookie 101.
• Ignoring the development of nuclear capability by America’s avowed No. 1 enemy is suicidal.
• Being praised by Russians and other Communists is an overt indicator that our enemies admire the direction of a weakening America.
• Increasing spending and taxes during an economic downturn is ignorant and dangerous.
• Tying the hands of America’s military to fight the war on terror is wantonly asking for trouble and will increase terrorist strongholds and their capability to attack us again.
• Burdening small businesses with more taxes and regulations makes America weaker, increases unemployment, reduces America’s productivity and strengthens our enemies.
That there are no patriots or statesmen in Congress blowing more whistles and raising more hell is more frightening than the violations of the President and his gang. With a soulless, unprofessional, grossly irresponsible lapdog media kow-towing to such egregious acts by the government which they are supposed to be watch-dogging, is as anti-American as it gets. That it has gotten this bad and this far without a meaningful response from anyone in government or the mainstream media is the worst-case scenario.
Thank God for Glenn Beck and Fox News. Thank God for Rush Limbaugh and much of talk radio. Thank God for the new Tea Party and Americans waking up to the inside job of Barak Hussein Obama and his evil destroyers of America.
November is varmint season, America. It is a target-rich environment. Vote the rats out. Clean house. Take America back.
Obama’s Economic Unreality
by David Limbaugh – 07/13/2010
Sadly, with President Obama, each day is crazier than the previous one. His latest economic speeches border on the surreal. I just can’t quite figure out who he thinks his audience is because so much of what he says doesn’t square with reality.
In a speech Friday in Las Vegas, Obama painted quite a rosy portrait of his economic record to date — at least rosy compared with what we’ve all experienced with our five senses.
Though I don’t intend to go all “Joe Wilson” on him (“You lie!”), please let me share with you a few, shall we say, “discrepancies” in his speech, the major theme of which could be summarized as “I inherited the worst economy since the Depression, and I saved us from a new depression because I say I did.”
The End of the Post Racial Presidency
by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
The very basis of Barack Obama’s entire political career has been the assertion that he is one of the first examples of a post-racial politician. He consciously eschewed the notion that his presidency was notable for the triumph of a black politician and focused, instead, on what it said about the irrelevance of race to the political process.
When the Clintons sought to inject race into the election by harping on the polarization of black support for Obama and likening his triumph in the South Carolina primary to that of Jesse Jackson, the Obama supporters cried foul and accused the former first couple of injecting race into the contest.
Now, Obama is letting his supporters strip away his image of a post-racial president by their increasingly racial rhetoric and his support for radical black activists.
In one of the greatest upsets in modern political history, the people of Massachusetts, sick and tired of the free spending, economy destroying ways of Obama and Democrats in Washington, came together to elect Republican Scott Brown to take over Ed Kennedy’s old Senate seat with the intention of ushering in a new age of federal fiscal responsibility.
But what a sorry joke that has turned out to be… instead of acting as a brake to the Obama agenda that the people had thought they voted for, Brown has become a bigger enabler to the President’s anti-business policies than the guy who shows up to an AA meeting with a bottle of gin.
Obama’s Next Act
by Charles Krauthammer – 07/16/2010
WASHINGTON — In the political marketplace, there’s now a run on Obama shares. The left is disappointed with the president. Independents are abandoning him in droves. And the right is already dancing on his political grave, salivating about November when, his own press secretary admitted Sunday, Democrats might lose the House.
I have a warning for Republicans: Don’t underestimate Barack Obama.
[...]
But Obama’s most far-reaching accomplishment is his structural alteration of the U.S. budget. The stimulus, the vast expansion of domestic spending, the creation of ruinous deficits as far as the eye can see are not easily reversed.
Obama Must be Impeached: He’s Either Incompetent, or Purposely Failing
Is there a single American who secretly thinks Obama’s up to the task of the presidency? Or, does anyone believe Barack does not take bad situations and worsen them to magnify his power? These are rhetorical questions, of course. The only way Barack is an acceptable president is if you’re an opponent of America’s greatest achievements.
Therefore, if you support Obama it means you want to revolutionize the US. But no democratic country knowingly elects leaders to debase their country, give away power, bankrupt the treasury, incorporate socialism, dissolve constitutional rights, cripple capitalism, and menace every citizen with reckless policies. That would be ridiculous and anti-American. Barack has done all these things. Therefore, he must be impeached.
Trial of Gulf oil well cap extended for 24 hours; Gulf Coast finds itself in limbo
NEW ORLEANS — The Gulf Coast found itself in an odd moment of limbo today: The oil has been stopped, but no one knows if it’s corked for good. (read article)
‘Whale’ superskimmer drops out of Gulf oil spill response
The Coast Guard said “thanks, but no thanks” to the superskimmer “A Whale” Friday, as the 1,100 foot-long converted iron ore freighter failed to make a sizeable dent in the Gulf oil spill during a 24-hour testing period. (read article)
FACTBOX-BP’s next steps on killing Gulf leak
(Reuters) – BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) was testing pressure in its ruptured Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and monitoring for signs that the April 20 blowout damaged it.
So far, the test that started the afternoon of July 15 has showed pressure slowly rising, therefore indicating no damage. If that’s the case, a new cap installed July 12 on the wellhead could possibly shut in all oil flow if oil-capture vessels at the surface must disconnect and move when a hurricane approaches.
The first of two relief wells remains on target to intercept and permanently plug the leak by mid-August.
July 18 update: Feds, BP meeting to discuss “why pressure may be low” says Commander Thad Allen
BP says it plans to keep gulf oil well cap closed
In a press conference Sunday morning, a BP executive said that a mechanical “cap” used to shut off the geyser still seems to be holding. As a result, he said, the company now plans to keep it closed indefinitely — or at least for a few more weeks, until a “relief well” can plug the leak near its underground source. (read article)
Obama Administration Approves First Direct Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Through New High-Risk Insurance Pools
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
(CNSNews.com) – If you want proof that President Obama’s Executive Order on taxpayer-funded abortion was a sham, look no further than Pennsylvania, says House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio).
Boehner and other Republicans point to reports that the Health and Human Services Department is giving Pennsylvania $160 million to set up a new high-risk insurance pool that will cover any abortion that is legal in the state.
Maryland Becomes Second State to Offer Federally Funded Abortions under Obamacare
Maryland will join Pennsylvania as the second state to use federal tax dollars to pay for abortions under the new health care law signed by President Barack Obama in March, according to information released by Maryland’s State Health Insurance Plan. (read article)
Obesity Rating for Every American Must Be Included in Stimulus-Mandated Electronic Health Records, Says HHS
Thursday, July 15, 2010
(CNSNews.com) – New federal regulations issued this week stipulate that the electronic health records–that all Americans are supposed to have by 2014 under the terms of the stimulus law that President Barack Obama signed last year–must record not only the traditional measures of height and weight, but also the Body Mass Index: a measure of obesity.
The obesity-rating regulation states that every American’s electronic health record must: “Calculate body mass index. Automatically calculate and display body mass index (BMI) based on a patient’s height and weight.”
An upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere recently collapsed in an unexpectedly large contraction, the sheer size of which has scientists scratching their heads, NASA announced Thursday….The collapse occurred during a period of relative solar inactivity – called a solar minimum from 2008 to 2009. These minimums are known to cool and contract the thermosphere, however, the recent collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain. (read article)
Scientists baffled by unusual upper atmosphere shrinkage
(CNN) — An upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere recently shrank so much that researchers are at a loss to adequately explain it, NASA said on Thursday.…The thermosphere, which blocks harmful ultraviolet rays, expands and contracts regularly due to the sun’s activities. As carbon dioxide increases, it has a cooling effect at such high altitudes, which also contributes to the contraction. (read article)
Minor Earthquake – But Strongest Ever to Hit D.C. – Shakes Capitol Region
Washington (AP) – A minor earthquake shook residents awake in the DC area early Friday, rattling windows and jostling dishes but apparently causing no serious damage. (read article)
The thermosphere, which blocks harmful ultraviolet rays, expands and contracts regularly due to the sun’s activities. As carbon dioxide increases, it has a cooling effect at such high altitudes, which also contributes to the contraction.
The Gulf waits: Oil is plugged, but for how long? NEW ORLEANS – The Gulf Coast found itself in an odd moment of limbo Saturday: The oil has been stopped, but no one knows if it’s corked for good. (read article)
Gulf oil spill: a muted ‘hurrah’ across the US as oil stops gushing But after nearly three months of wall-to-wall coverage of top kills, junk shots, oiled plovers, and incinerated sea turtles, much of America outside the Gulf Coast has become less than riveted, offering up more an exhausted sigh of relief than a whoop of joy amid signs that cap on the undersea well is holding steady. (read article)
Since July 15th when BP capped the well, information that both BP and our government has been putting out regarding the 48 hour testing period is promising but I remain cautiously optimistic as I do not believe we are being told the whole truth regarding the oil containment in the Gulf. Because we are not getting the whole story and there are so many assumptions flying around, I’m not buying into much of anything anyone says. I would rather spend the time doing the research myself in an attempt to find some truth in this huge mess of cover up and lies. Too many unknowns with a lot of misinformation. Who to believe? Who to trust? Where to turn to? I’ve been also following the BP ROV feeds which who knows what we are really watching is what they say they are. I’ve witnessed bubbles from the sea floor and oil seeping from crevices in the well containment cap, so I am not completely buying what BP is claiming to be true. I’m treading carefully as I attempt to put some pieces together.
I have been following what is going on around our globe in terms of geological changes with increased earthquakes, floods, sink holes, storms, and volcanic activity. I haven’t posted much on this since I’ve have focused mostly on the political fallout since President Obama has taken office. It doesn’t take a scientist to figure out that there are planetary changes happening before us in increased activity. Now with regard to the Gulf, it is apparent that there are fissures along the sea floor and many of them have been leaking oil and gases even prior to the April 20th explosion. It is part of a natural occurrence so at first I wasn’t that interested in the normal seepage. However, what we do not know with certainty is the damage to these fissures in this fault area after the explosion. Nor do we really know what is happening in this region with increased earthquake activity. Can we fix the leaks? How many plumes are making it’s way to the surface? Would the capped well rupture the wellhead causing oil and gases to flood into the strata below the seafloor?
NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson Deepwater Horizon Response Mission Report, Interim Project Report – Leg 2, June 3-11, 2010:
Could a Blown-Out Well at the Base of the Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf Edge Release Enough Pressure at a Sub-Salt Methane Hydrate Layer to cause an Explosively Expanding Methane Gas Bubble that Sinks all Ships and Rigs in the area, causes a Primary Tsunami, and triggers a Continental Shelf Edge LandSlide and another Huge Tsunami which LandSlide then triggers even more Explosive Release of Methane and yet another Tsunami and more, larger, Landslides and Tsunamis? (read pdf)
The extreme scenario through erosion could potentially erupt the seabed creating a volcano like crater with an unimaginable and unstoppable amount of oil and methane gushing out into the Gulf. Again, that is exactly what needs to be monitored and tested. Is it possible for a methane bubble to burst through the sea floor? What is the risk? All I can say is that I wish we knew the truth so that we can take precautions in case such an event would occur. Do you trust BP and the government to tell the truth after months of preventing media coverage and telling lies about the severity of the oil gusher? I sure as heck don’t. Government and transnational corporations are pathological liars and should never under any circumstance be trusted.
“Americans as a whole celebrated the news from the Gulf – and waited a long time for it,” writes the Monitor. In fact, the American people have absolutely no independent source of information and celebration at this point is inappropriate.
I have become such a cynic in this whole disaster that I no longer think anyone will provide us with the hard facts until it’s too late. Nothing has made sense from day one and we’re now at day 88 of the largest environmental disaster. Sea life, wildlife, and the whole Gulf ecosystem is being affected. Not to mention what happens as this toxic mess makes it’s way up the eastern seaboard. Gulf coastal residents are coming down with illness while many suffer from the loss of their livelihood. I do hope the well they capped works but from what we have been told from some inside sources, there are more leaks. I remain skeptical as I do not believe we have contained it all. Could this be the reason for the media blackout, that there really are more plumes?
MSNBC July 15: Matt Simmons still says BP covering up massive hole miles away, cap test is “absurd”
I tend to think we have been duped considering the number of independent sources and months of a long cover-up from our government and media. It took BP three months to finally cap the well? Why didn’t they try capping it earlier? What happened to the relief wells? Why stop? What about the ship the ‘Whale’ that was to collect the oil in massive amount? Will there be a need to use a nuclear device to fix the leaks and if so, is it going to make matters worse as it would increase the size of the fissures? Too many questions unanswered. I am convinced this is far from over. Even with this particular well capped, the recovery along the coast has not even fully begun. We’re still witnessing the continued destruction, not to mention the Corexit being used which once mixed with the crude oil becomes more toxic.
Capping the well is a milestone, but it’s not the end of the ordeal. Oil continues to affect fishing villages, beach towns, and oil-dependent burgs despondent over a drilling moratorium that some economists say could have a bigger economic impact on Gulf Coast states than the effects of the spill itself.
In my opinion (with little substantiated proof), the well we have been watching that is supposedly now capped may not even be the damaged well from the April 20th explosion. From what I’ve read and seen over the past month, the explosion blew the wellhead which means this ’staged’ capping is not the real deal. From a number of sources including residents who have shot footage, there is more than one leak. So, is the well that they have been showing perhaps another one of those leaks? BP caps one of three oil leaks in gulf – Wednesday, May 5, 2010.
Is the Oil Spill Staged? “We are not the enemy here.” — Anderson Cooper, CNN reporter (referring to the media blackout surrounding the oil spill)
Let me say up front that, personally, I don’t believe that the oil spill disaster was staged (although I believe that much of the clean-up may well be). So why do I bring up the possibility? Because we are being lied to by both the federal government and BP, and at this point all possible explanations for the oil spill need to remain on the table. (read article)
Independent scientists and experts need access to the area in order to confirm what BP and the government are saying. Short of independent confirmation we should assume to oil gusher continues unabated. Sadly, we are in a dangerous time where the cover-up is becoming worse than the actual incident. Just tell us the truth but I sense that if they did tell us, there might be massive panic. Can we really handle the truth? Unfortunately, that is part of the problem. Many could not handle being told that the Gulf may become a dead zone. Pray for those in the Gulf along with a speedy recovery.
Even with leak stopped, Gulf’s pain may last years
CHAUVIN, La. — The slicks on the surface will disappear quickly if the cap on BP’s blown oil well holds. But the oil will remain in the water, on beaches and in marshes, and in the lives of Gulf Coast residents like Jason Blanchard for years.
Up to 184.3 million gallons of crude has already spilled. Months from now, it could show up as far west as Corpus Christi, Texas, or as far east as North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Judging by a comparably sized 1979 spill off Mexico’s coast, tar balls and patties could keep washing ashore for decades.
Below is a clip regarding an oil spill in Brazil after a decade which pales in comparison.
Lessons in Brazil’s oil spill after a decade
George Soros and Barack Obama are invested in Petrobras.
Far From Over
Dr Ricki Ott (Toxicologist) A message to BP workers and residents in the Gulf – July 16, 2010
BP Gulf Oil Spill Photos Show What BP Doesn’t Want You To See – July 13, 2010
Jean-Michel Cousteau: Use of Oil Dispersants in Gulf ‘A Mistake’
The Rundown caught up with ocean explorer and occasional PBS host Jean-Michel Cousteau to chat about what his team discovered on dives last week into the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.
MOBILE, Alabama – Dr. Riki Ott thinks it won’t be just cleanup workers having health problems: so could people who visit the beach. Ott said, “Wicked sore throats, burning eyes, ear bleeds: this is all exactly deja vu Exxon Valdez. And the people most at risk are the little children, because their little lungs are filtering more poison per body weight.”
BP OIL SPILL HEALTH EMERGENCY! DIRE! MUST BE WATCHED! Corexit Being Sprayed From Coast Guard Planes! – July 4, 2010
GULF OIL DISASTER COULD KILL US ALL – July 9, 2010
This is the best citizen report I have seen to date.
Oil/Water samples from Gulf…VERY TOXIC
WKRG News 5 Testing Water Samples Alabama Coastal Water – July 17, 2010
Water Sample Analysis
Here is a 12 page report providing analysis of water samples taken 20 miles at sea off Grand Isle. In addition to the data and the calculations, the text also includes a description of the analytical methods for a general audience as well as enough detail for technical readers to duplicate the methodology if needed. (read report)
Oil Spill REALITY in your face! – July 5, 2010
CNN Gulf Dive Live: Dispersant mixing into the water column is an insidious cancer. – July 10, 2010
There are no signs of life 50 miles from the disaster site except for a couple of undoubtedly hungry sharks. What should be crystal clear blue water is now a murky green sludge. While what seems like half of the population is hypnotized into believing that Government take-over from the Obama administration is the threat, the obvious reality of Corporate dominance over Government is hemorrhaging into the ocean at a rate of up to 100,000 barrels (4,200,000 gallons) a day.
OLS – Toxic Gulf – Stay Out Of The Water – 2010 – July 12, 2010
Tsunami and corexit update from BP oil spill zone on Freedomizer Radio – July 15, 2010
“Game Over”–Oyster Population Decimated By Oil – July 8, 2010
BP Dumping Oil Waste in Mississippi Landfill Despite Objections of County Leaders – July 8, 2010
Waste management-toxic sludge and tar balls… – July 09, 2010
CNN Louisiana Women Pleads for the Presidents Help – July 15, 2010
BP OIL CATASTROPHE! Our exclusive chat with the EPA! – July , 2010
With the US trapped in depression, this really is starting to feel like 1932 – July 4, 2010
The US workforce shrank by 652,000 in June, one of the sharpest contractions ever. The rate of hourly earnings fell 0.1pc. Wages are flirting with deflation.
“Home sales are down. Retail sales are down. Factory orders in May suffered their biggest tumble since March of last year. So what are we doing about it? Less than nothing,” he said.
California is tightening faster than Greece. State workers have seen a 14pc fall in earnings this year due to forced furloughs. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is cutting pay for 200,000 state workers to the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour to cover his $19bn (£15bn) deficit.
Can Illinois be far behind? The state has a deficit of $12bn and is $5bn in arrears to schools, nursing homes, child care centres, and prisons. “It is getting worse every single day,” said state comptroller Daniel Hynes. “We are not paying bills for absolutely essential services. That is obscene.”
Roughly a million Americans have dropped out of the jobs market altogether over the past two months. That is the only reason why the headline unemployment rate is not exploding to a post-war high.
Let us be honest. The US is still trapped in depression a full 18 months into zero interest rates, quantitative easing (QE), and fiscal stimulus that has pushed the budget deficit above 10pc of GDP.
Rush Limbaugh: America has become ‘Obamaville’ – June 30, 2010 ‘The only difference is Obama is doing this on purpose. Hoover wasn’t’
At the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, many Americans fighting for survival ended up living in crudely built shantytowns known as “Hoovervilles,” in humiliating honor of President Herbert Hoover, who many blamed for the economic distress.
Now in 2010, radio giant Rush Limbaugh is declaring the United States has become one giant “Obamaville,” thanks directly to the policies of President Barack Obama.
“The whole country is Obamaville,” Limbaugh said on his program today. “Obama is Herbert Hoover. You know they used to call those unemployment camps Hoovervilles. Well, now we’re going to see Obamavilles springing up all across the nation.”
“Hoover was trying to fix things. Obama’s not. The only difference is Obama is doing this on purpose. Hoover wasn’t.”
Analyst: Obama has U.S. economy in ‘death spiral’ – July 4, 2010 ‘Simple math’ confirms unemployment won’t be solved by government hiring
A new analysis of the U.S. economy shows that since 2007, the private sector has lost 10.5 million jobs while the public sector has added 720,000 jobs, creating a “death spiral” for the nation’s economy.
The study comes from The Free Enterprise Nation, a nonpartisan national membership/advocacy organization for individuals and businesses that make up the private sector.
The analysis was done using statistics about employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The recession of the last two years exacerbated the larger problem that already was in place, it revealed.
“Over the 10-year period between March 2000 and March 2010, the private sector lost over three million jobs, while the public sector gained nearly two million jobs,” the analysis concludes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is repeating a pattern that appeared just before markets fell during the Great Depression, Daryl Guppy, CEO at Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Monday.
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it…there was a head and shoulders pattern that developed before the Depression in 1929, then with the recovery in 1930 we had another head and shoulders pattern that preceded a fall in the market, and in the current Dow situation we see an exact repeat of that environment,” Guppy said.
The Dow retreated 457.33 points, or 4.5 percent last week, to close at 9,686 Friday. Guppy said a Dow fall below 9,800 confirmed the head and shoulders pattern.
A flag floats off the coastline, just one day after American’s celebrated Independence Day / AFP
I want to be clear that I do not know with absolute certainty what is really happening in the Gulf region but one thing that is – we have a media and government failing to disclose to us the full facts regarding the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. Some rumors they are debunking to avoid panic but the evidence clearly shows otherwise. That includes information the EPA and NOAA are putting out. Their number one job is to keep people safe but through secrecy and crony corporatism they are making making matters worse for Gulf coast residents and the entire United States. Plus on top of it we have an administration with an ideological agenda. I can only surmise that there is a lot more to this that we do not know, something larger at work that will affect us all. Where is President Obama in all of this? Still missing in action.
In my attempt to provide sound information based on my research of what is taking place, it’s up to us to take what is being put out very carefully as these are assumptions being made from a variety of sources. What is true is that more troubling news arises by the week. These are not reports from just anyone but those with expert knowledge — geologists, environmentalists, marine biologists, toxicologists (and even victims). My posts regarding the spill is not to create fear or panic but to warn those living along the Gulf region to take precautions and use some common-sense. If that means not swimming in the ocean water or temporarily making alternate living arrangements out of the region then that is a choice one needs to make on their own.
I do not know where this goes from here but we must start treating this oil spill as a catastrophe not just any spill. The internet can be full of misinformation but we have to try our best to rely on citizen reports and independent sources to help us get the best accurate information out to the public. Our eyes need to be wide open and not just believe what anyone says. Of course if the facts do hold out to be true and something dangerous is indeed looming ahead, mass hysteria would break out which is another whole disaster in itself. For those who have understanding in Bible Prophecy and who are following the signs know that the spill along with the Middle East situation and worsening economic climate is the perfect storm. These are times when we need to press in to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in prayer.
Message from Merle Savage: General Foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill clean-up in Anchorage in 1989
Gulf Coast Cleanup: Caution Urged
Dear Gulf Coast residents,
The continuing health problems of people involved in cleanup of the Exxon Valdez spill present urgent lessons for the Gulf cleanup crews.
My name is Merle Savage, a female general foreman during the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) beach cleanup in 1989. I am one of the 11,000+ cleanup workers from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), who is suffering from health issues from that toxic cleanup, without compensation from Exxon.
Dr. Riki Ott visited me in 2007 to explain about the toxic spraying on the beaches. She also informed me that Exxon’s medical records and the reports that surfaced in litigation by sick workers in 1994, had been sealed from the public, making it impossible to hold Exxon responsible for their actions.
Exxon developed the toxic spraying; OSHA, the Coast Guard, and the state of Alaska authorized the procedure. Beach crews breathed in crude oil that splashed off the rocks and into the air — the toxic exposure turned into chronic breathing conditions and central nervous system problems, neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood disease.
My web site, http://silenceinthesound.com, is devoted to searching for EVOS cleanup workers who were exposed to the toxic spraying, and are suffering from the same illnesses that I have. There is an on going Longshoreman’s claim for workers with medical problems from the oil cleanup. Our summer employment turned into a death sentence for many — and a life of unending medical conditions for the rest of Exxon’s Collateral Damaged.
Sincerely,
Merle Savage
Now in touch with Merle directly and she responded with this comment:
Crude oil continues to invade the Gulf; while BP, the US Government, and other official agencies monitoring the toxic crude, continues to FIDDLE. I call that the “Dance of Deliberate Deception”. No one will come forward with the intestinal fortitude, and declare the obvious – that crude oil is toxic to our health. I have been told that a medical study cannot be conducted until after 6 months of exposure. WHAT? There have been 21 years since the exposure of the crude oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska. So we have to wait until after 6 months of workers, in the Gulf, breathing in the crude oil fumes, before a study can be conducted? That leads me to believe that the government is holding up the rug, while BP sweeps known reports under that same rug, and the other agencies conduct the “Dance of Deliberate Deception” on top of that rug.
Toxic Crude Oil In The Gulf A message about the health hazards of cleaning up the toxic crude oil spill in the Gulf.
Worker Health and Safety During the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Cleanup in Alaska in 1989
Exxon Valdez oil risks spur warning for gulf cleanup crews
They called it the “Valdez crud,” but it was more than a cough and diarrhea.
“We thought it was a flu that was going around and every body kept getting it,” said Merle Savage, who was general foreman of the cleanup crews of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
Instead, the stuff that was making cleanup workers sick was a toxic cocktail of oil droplets in mist they inhaled from spraying the shoreline with hot water and chemicals that were used to disperse the spill’s massive black wave.
Merle Savage was an “outdoors person” who found joy in the big things Mother Nature had to offer. She climbed Alaska’s mountains and hiked the Grand Canyon. But then the big spill hit, and there would be no more climbing, no more hiking, and very little joy.
BP’s Other Toxic Legacy: ‘Decades of Misery’ for Gulf Health
As a cleanup worker in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez disaster, Savage says she breathed crude- and dispersant-laced mist for weeks. (This photograph speaks for itself.) She was healthy for age fifty — she looked healthy — but soon experienced crippling health problems that have lasted for two decades: coughing spells, violent diarrhea, pneumonia, obstructed blood vessels. Her liver cirrhosis onset baffled doctors.
“We were all coughing and vomiting for months,” says Savage, who had no prior history of drinking or smoking and did not wear a respirator during the cleanup. “We thought it was the flu. Exxon told us crude oil was non-toxic and we believed them.”
She has limited legal recourse — a court sealed Exxon’s medical records until 2023, she says — but now, twenty-one years later, her primary concern is not herself. Savage’s “quest,” and that of several environmental activists and locals taking a hard look at the aftershocks of the 2010 disaster, has become protecting the health of her modern counterparts in the Gulf of Mexico, who have been exposed to a variation of the same dispersant — and even more toxic oil. Because she doesn’t want any of them to live her waking nightmare, and no one wants the BP spill to become for local volunteers and fisherman what 9/11 became for workers at the World Trade Center.
The Trouble with Suing BP
A hundred cleanup workers in Louisiana and Alabama have reported chest pains, skin-and-eye irritation, nose bleeds, stomach problems, nausea, and cognitive disruption, which medical experts believe is just the beginning. Last week a group of Louisiana fishermen sued BP and dispersant manufacturer Nalco over toxicity concerns. For the thousands who have already been exposed, it could already be too late.
“The average age of a person working in Valdez was fifty-one and they’re mostly dead now,” says Arlen Braud, the attorney representing the Louisiana plaintiffs. “One of my clients had severe migraines and respiratory problems after traveling near the dispersants. It’s so arrogant: a UK company using a chemical banned in the UK for endangering the food chain.” According to Braud, BP is “telling workers ‘you can’t have lawyers and talk to us,’” possibly because “lawyers might warn people about the health effects ten years down the road.”
BP claims that air quality is acceptable and respirators are unnecessary (based on decades-old OSHA standards that its director decries as “outrageously out of date”), and Nalco defends its product as “a safe, effective, and critical tool in mitigating additional damage in the Gulf,” despite conflicting messages from the EPA.
But Louisiana residents with their hands both literally and figuratively in the oil remain deeply skeptical of BP’s response.
“The only people getting sick are the ones cleaning up the spill,” says Jim Gossen, CEO of Louisiana Foods-Global Seafood Source, who owns a beach house in Grand Isle. “My friend’s brother-in-law was sick for days; he said dispersants were sprayed ten miles from their shrimp boat. The deckhand threw up blood in the hospital — they must have had dispersants in their blood — but I can’t imagine BP would admit it.”
Wilma Subra, a Louisiana chemist who regularly meets with federal officials about the spill, testified before a congressional committee that workers have been forced to handle crude oil with their bare hands, and “[t]hose fishermen who attempted to wear respirators while working were threatened to be fired by BP due to the workers using respirators.” (BP insists that it provides respirators and hazmat gear upon request.)
Hello, my name is Merle Savage, and I was General Foreman, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill clean-up in Anchorage in 1989. I am just like a lot of the workers. There were approximately 11,000 workers who cleaned the beaches, and all of them, just like me, have respiratory problems and other illnesses that come from the toxic crude which is etoxic.
The reason why I am here today is to let people know, because no one is telling people in the Gulf region that the crude oil is toxic, and the people are going out there and cleaning, and they’re becoming sick just like we were many years ago: twenty-one years and they were not able to do any reports that would show that the crude oil is toxic.
So I’m asking President Obama to come forward and indicate that he’s going to do something about it. He needs to protect his people, and no one is doing it. They need respirators and no one is giving it to them, and no one is even telling them. I’ve been trying for two months to let people know about it.
If there’s any doubt about it, go to my website, http://silenceinthesound.com/. There are pictures there that show the crude oil mist that we workers had to work in and breathe, which caused our health to deteriorate. My immune system is collapsed. I had angioplasty and I have rheumatoid arthritis that I’m taking shots for twice a month. It’s a very bad health issue that’s going on. Fortunately for me, I’m still alive. A lot of my friends have passed away with the same symptoms that I have.
Again, I would like to ask President Obama to do something. You’re the only one that can. So step up. Step up, and do something, and order BP to give the workers respirators. Stand up and say, Yes, it’s toxic. You know it is. We see the warning signs when we get gas at the gas station and that’s refined oil. Once again. My name is Merle Savage, and I would appreciate it if you would pass this message on. Anyone who’s listening, just pass it on.
Thank you.
Exxon Valdez Survivor To Gulf Residents –
AU 60 Minutes BP Oil Spill Video, 13 June 2010, Removed by BP Demand
PART 1:
PART 2:
TILT: The illness afflicting workers exposed to BP’s oil disaster?
Workers cleaning up the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico have reported suffering from flu-like symptoms that may be the consequence of exposure to chemicals in the oil as well as the petroleum-derived solvent being used to disperse the spill.
The illness — marked by headaches, fatigue, upset stomach, and problems with memory and concentration — has been dubbed toxicant-induced loss of tolerance, or TILT. People suffering from TILT lose the ability to tolerate exposures to household chemical products, medication or even food, Dr. Claudia Miller of the University of Texas Health Science Center told WOAI TV:
“Things like diesel fuel, exposure to fragrances, cleaning agents that never bothered them before suddenly bother them,” adds Dr. Miller.
BP OIL DISASTER! DR. RIKI OTT TALKS ABOUT DISPERSANT AND WHAT BP IS HIDING! – July 04, 2010 Dr. Riki Ott talks to Project Gulf Impact about the AWFUL health risks that Corexit and the oil spill impose on the mass population.
You think the dispersant isn’t harmful? – July 01, 2010
BP OIL SPILL DISASTER! BLACK BEACHES IN PENSACOLA! – July 04, 2010
Poison Spreads: Gulf air turns toxic after oil spill ‘relief effort’ – July 1, 2010
Oil Spills Raise Ocean’s Arsenic Level, Create ‘Toxic Time Bomb’
July 2 (Bloomberg) — Oil spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico interfere with the ocean’s natural filtration system, allowing arsenic levels to build up and threaten the long-term health of marine plants and animals, researchers found.
Minerals on the ocean floor attract arsenic found in seawater, latching onto the poison and burying it under layers of sand, silt and sediment, according to a new study released today by scientists from Imperial College London. The study was published today in the journal Water Research.
Arsenic is also found in oil. Leaks from underground reservoirs, spills and wastewater from rigs all increase levels of the chemical in the ocean and threaten the marine ecosystem as well as the food chain, the researchers said.
“The real danger lies in arsenic’s ability to accumulate, which means that each subsequent spill raises the levels of this pollutant in seawater,” said Mark Sephton, a professor at Imperial’s department of earth science and engineering. “Our study is a timely reminder that oil spills could create a toxic ticking time bomb, which could threaten the fabric of the marine ecosystem in the future.”
They said the arsenic then gets “magnified” up the food chain, as fish eat small amounts of the deadly poison and may eventually impact humans, researchers said.
More bad news for BP as arsenic levels rise in seawater around the Gulf of Mexico
BELEAGUERED energy giant BP was hit with further bad news this morning as it emerged dangerous arsenic levels have been found in seawater around the Gulf of Mexico.
British scientists warned that the oil spill is increasing the level of arsenic in the ocean, and could further add to the devastating impact on the already sensitive environment.
BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig has been spilling between 3,681,500 litres and 911,454,000 litres of oil into the sea per day since it exploded on 22 April.
The spill is already being labeled as America’s worst environmental disaster and has turned into a economic and PR nightmare for the British company.
The clean-up operation which has already cost, $US3.12 billion (A3.7 billion) is expected to rise even further efforts have been hampered by technical setbacks to cap the leak and Hurricane Alex.
BP Gulf Oil Spill Disaster, An Impossible Well to Cap? – July 3, 2010
By Joshua S. Burnett
[...]
That being said there are some rather severe long-term economic implications across all of the Gulf States. Fishing and tourism industries should expect a severe decline for years; recovery will have to be built from the ground up over the course of what looks like the next several decades before pre-spill strength is achieved. Because of the fact that these are driving industries across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, the rest of the industries in these states should expect to see an economic downturn ripple effect. The impacts will of course be lessened but they will be no less significant. There is a possibility (though how probable remains to be seen) that certain crops could be damaged by any oil-infused rain; even if they remain effectively safe for human consumption they may not remain so legally (it is possible the FDA will forbid any crops from “contaminated” areas to be sold); farmers should be prepared for the possibility that this negative impact may occur. Consumers should be prepared for across the board food price increases this summer; this will especially be true the longer the Mississippi River is impacted as a shipping lane.
The concern still exists that capping the well may be a long way off. The problem BP is facing is not that the pressures in the well are so high that it is impossible to be capped (as I originally thought) but rather that the casing is most likely broken. This causes oil and gas to vector out around the well casing whenever it is shut off, further damaging the wellhead’s attachments to the sea floor. According to Matthew Simmons, energy advisor to George W. Bush and founder of the Ocean Energy Institute an intact casing is necessary for the relief wells to work. If the casing is busted what we’re looking at is trying to seal an increasingly porous and leaking ocean floor, not a wellhead. This makes the case fundamentally different from and incomparable to cases such as the Ixtoc oil well (in addition to being in 5,000 feet of water as verses 160 feet with the Ixtoc). If such indeed proves to be the case more drastic measures may be necessary, such as attempting to collapse the floor around the leak using explosives. This brings up an entire host of issues and I sincerely hope we won’t have to cross that bridge.
Methane’s hidden impact in Gulf oil spill Large quantities of methane released by BP’s oil blowout aren’t fouling beaches like the Gulf oil spill is, but could endanger a key link in the undersea food chain. (read article)
VIDEO BELOW: The first part is a collection of clips put together of the oil and toxic waters washing up on shore. The second half is on the extreme side of what could happen, ie. tsunami. From my research – only if a platonic shift such as an earthquake would then possibly lead to some other natural event, ie. underwater volcano – this of which is highly unlikely but not out of possibility. However, the toxic gases and toxic crude oil mixed in with Corexit should be of significant concern. Hurricanes in the Gulf could pick up oil and deposit it 300 miles inland from the coast. This could poison the vegetation and freshwater sources, resulting in large scale evacuations and massive refugee needs.
Gulf Air Toxic – BP Oil Spill Truth – Beyond Repair – Fissures and Fractures Leaking
BP Oil Disaster WORST CASE SCENARIO w/ Kindra Arnesen, BP Community Liaison – July 02, 2010
VIDEO BELOW — I cannot verify with accuracy but I feel I should pass it along. There are issues I have with Jeff Rense as he is out there with some conspiracies but Lindsay Williams seems to have some valid concerns.
URGENT – BP SPILL – 10s Of Millions Being Allowed To Breath Deadly Air!! – July 03, 2010
Lindsay Williams brings us his latest update via the Jeff Rense radio show. Williams discusses the possibility and the dangers attached to using a nuclear device to try and seal the hole. If the nuclear device was to fail we may have oil leaking/gushing into the gulf for up to 30 years. And with the EPA not reporting the air quality since the end of May, there is the potential for 10s of millions to be breathing in deadly toxins. And for those out there that attack me for this info, let me just remind you that out of all the workers that were part of the clean up crew working on the Exxon Valdez are not alive today.
BP Oil Spill Global Catastrophe Reaches Epic Proportions
By: T. Anthony Michael
Dr. Tom Termotto writes: As BP Oil Spill Lets the Genie Out Of The Bottle
[...]
It doesn’t take much understanding or knowledge to apprehend the enormity and gravity of the potential consequences of such a standard operating principle in the oil and gas exploration and drilling business. Especially when you’re drilling 5000 feet underwater, and between 22,000 and 32,000 feet (they won’t tell us how deep) through the Earth’s crust and mantle. When you throw in the likes of Transocean and Halliburton into the mix, it’s not a matter of what, or if, or when, the greatest disaster of all time is going to happen. IT’S A MATTER OF JUST HOW CATASTROPHIC IT WILL BE FOR THE ENTIRE PLANET!
FEMA Says Gulf Coast Disaster Could Cost Trillions
Despite President Obama’s declaration that life in the Gulf Coast will return to normal, knowledgeable insiders and experts are saying it is possible that the Gulf oil disaster will create a dead zone. If that were to happen, it would cause the displacement and evacuation of several cities and towns within range of the disaster. The final cost for addressing the disaster could run into the trillions of dollars. See the following article from OilPrice.com for more on this.
Bad news concerning the Gulf oil disaster continues to come from WMR’s federal government sources in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers . Emergency planners are dealing with a prospective “dead zone” within a 200 mile radius from the Deepwater Horizon disaster datum in the Gulf.
A looming environmental and population displacement disaster is brewing in the Gulf. The oil dispersant used by BP, Corexit 9500, is seen by FEMA sources as mixing with evaporated water from the Gulf and absorbed by rain clouds producing toxic precipitation that threatens to continue killing marine and land animals, plant life, and humans within a 200-mile radius of the Deepwater Horizon disaster site in the Gulf.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is in its third month with no end in sight. Here’s where things stand now in the Gulf of Mexico.
How much oil is still gushing?
No one knows exactly how much oil is escaping BP’s oil collection system (series of pipes drawing oil from leak to surface ships) and entering Gulf waters. Government estimates peg the leak at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, which translates to between 1.5 million and 2.5 million gallons.
Of that, BP is now collecting upward of 20,000 barrels per day. On June 29, the company recovered 25,220 barrels, bringing the total collected since the beginning of the spill to 508,700 barrels.
Where is the oil?
Gulf oil spill could be headed to Miami and Florida Keys, new government data suggests – Daily News
Florida’s panhandle may not be the only part of the Sunshine State to get a visit from the massive oil spill floating in the Gulf of Mexico.
Miami and the Florida Keys might be in store for tar balls and oily shores, according to new data released by the government.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates the areas have a 61%-80% chance of getting hit with oil.
There’s no exact timetable for the oil’s arrival. If the spill reaches the Loop Current, NOAA says it could take 8-12 days before it reaches south Florida.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that any oil that reaches the current and heads toward South Florida will likely degrade and break apart during the journey. NOAA says their estimate does not mean oil will necessary come ashore.
Gulf oil spill likely to reach Florida Keys, Miami, report says – Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington and New Orleans —
Hundreds of skimming boats prepared Friday to return to calmer gulf waters in the wake of Hurricane Alex and resume cleanup of the massive BP oil spill, which scientists now predict is likely to reach the Florida Keys and Miami in the months ahead.
Using computer simulations based on 15 years of wind and ocean current data, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report Friday showing a 61% to 80% chance of the oil spill reaching within 20 miles of the coasts of the Florida Keys, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, mostly likely in the form of weathered tar balls.
E.P.A. Lags on Setting Some Air Standards, Report Finds
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is 10 years behind schedule in setting guidelines for a host of toxic air pollutants, according to a report from the agency’s inspector general.
The report, which was released last week, found that the agency had failed to develop emissions standards, due in 2000, for some sources of hazardous air pollutants. These included smaller sites often located in urban areas, like dry cleaners and gas stations, but also some chemical manufacturers.
The inspector general also found that the agency had not met targets outlined in a 1999 planning document, the Integrated Urban Air Toxics Strategy, including tracking urban dwellers’ risk of developing health problems from exposure to pollutants.
NEW ORLEANS – The latest hopes are riding on a massive new skimmer to clean oil from near the spewing well in the Gulf of Mexico, while a local Louisiana parish’s plan to block the slick has been rejected by federal officials.
A 48-hour test of the Taiwanese vessel dubbed “A Whale” began Saturday and was to continue through Sunday.
TMT Shipping created what is billed as the world’s largest oil skimmer by converting an oil tanker after the April 20 explosion sent millions of gallons of crude spilling into the Gulf.
Oil Disaster: The Rig That Blew Up was never going to win any awards for its less-than-imaginative title, and true to Five’s form, this hastily cobbled together documentary about one of the planet’s worst ever ecological disasters was less than brilliant.
If you tuned in expecting an in-depth assessment of the ecological impact of the explosion of Deepwater Horizon, or a look at the subsequent political fallout and President Obama’s Brit-bashing in the weeks following, you’d have been seriously disappointed.
For this is Five, a channel which sticks Ice Road Truckers on at primetime and seems to be courting a target audience of blokes who get their kicks watching massive bits of machinery been driven around by Americans with handlebar moustaches. It takes all sorts.
Oil Disaster focussed primarily on those first few nights after the BP-owned rig suffered a massive blowout with 126 people on board, and the efforts of the emergency services and specialists who worked tirelessly in an effort save those on board and vainly fought to prevent the thing from collapsing into the ocean.
The narration in particular was rather ham-fisted. “Chris leaves his room – walking into a deep sea rigger’s worst nightmare” boomed the voiceover at one point, somewhat stating the obvious. The dedication and the bravery of the experts who fought to prevent the disaster was beyond doubt – but they’d have been better served by a film which didn’t so obviously salivate at the prospect of showing some big American trucks and huge slabs of lifting equipment.
The timescales involved presumably meant the makers of this documentary had to turn the whole thing round pretty quickly, and by god it showed. The last few minutes were frankly bizarre, with the whole environmental catastrophe and hapless BP boss Tony Hayward’s grilling by US senators shoehorned into the tiny bit of space they had before the credits rolled. Such a tragic incident surely merits better.
Documentary exploring what really happened in the first 36 hours of the biggest environmental disaster in US history – the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Featuring exclusive access and footage, the film follows the salvage team called in to save the burning oil rig Deepwater Horizon, and unravels the desperate story of the men tasked with preventing a catastrophe. (Runtime: 44:44)
This weekend we celebrate the birth of our nation.
July 2, 1776 was the original signing of the Declaration of Independence declaring independence from the British Crown. July 4, 1776 Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence proclaiming a new United States of America from Great Britain and its king.
Happy Birthday America! Have a great Independence Day!
President Reagan’s Address to the Nation on Independence Day – 7/4/86
Independence Forever: Why America Celebrates the Fourth of July
The Fourth of July is a great opportunity to renew our dedication to the principles of liberty and equality enshrined in what Thomas Jefferson called “the declaratory charter of our rights.”
As a practical matter, the Declaration of Independence publicly announced to the world the unanimous decision of the American colonies to declare themselves free and independent states, absolved from any allegiance to Great Britain. But its greater meaning-then as well as now-is as a statement of the conditions of legitimate political authority and the proper ends of government, and its proclamation of a new ground of political rule in the sovereignty of the people. “If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence,” wrote the great historian Samuel Eliot Morrison, “it would have been worthwhile.”
Although Congress had appointed a distinguished committee-including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston-the Declaration of Independence is chiefly the work of Thomas Jefferson. By his own account, Jefferson was neither aiming at originality nor taking from any particular writings but was expressing the “harmonizing sentiments of the day,” as expressed in conversation, letters, essays, or “the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.” Jefferson intended the Declaration to be “an expression of the American mind,” and wrote so as to “place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.”
The structure of the Declaration of Independence is that of a common law legal document. The ringing phrases of the document’s famous second paragraph are a powerful synthesis of American constitutional and republican government theories. All men have a right to liberty only in so far as they are by nature equal, which is to say none are naturally superior, and deserve to rule, or inferior, and deserve to be ruled. Because men are endowed with these rights, the rights are unalienable, which means that they cannot be given up or taken away. And because individuals equally possess these rights, governments derive their just powers from the consent of those governed. The purpose of government is to secure these fundamental rights and, although prudence tells us that governments should not be changed for trivial reasons, the people retain the right to alter or abolish government when it becomes destructive of these ends.
The remainder of the document is a bill of indictment accusing King George III of some 30 offenses, some constitutional, some legal, and some matters of policy. The combined charges against the king were intended to demonstrate a history of repeated injuries, all having the object of establishing “an absolute tyranny” over America. Although the colonists were “disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable,” the time had come to end the relationship: “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government.”
One charge that Jefferson had included, but Congress removed, was that the king had “waged cruel war against human nature” by introducing slavery and allowing the slave trade into the American colonies. A few delegates were unwilling to acknowledge that slavery violated the “most sacred rights of life and liberty,” and the passage was dropped for the sake of unanimity. Thus was foreshadowed the central debate of the American Civil War, which Abraham Lincoln saw as a test to determine whether a nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” could long endure.
The Declaration of Independence and the liberties recognized in it are grounded in a higher law to which all human laws are answerable. This higher law can be understood to derive from reason-the truths of the Declaration are held to be “self-evident”-but also revelation. There are four references to God in the document: to “the laws of nature and nature’s God”; to all men being “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”; to “the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions”; and to “the protection of Divine Providence.” The first term suggests a deity that is knowable by human reason, but the others-God as creator, as judge, and as providence-are more biblical, and add a theological context to the document. “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God?” Jefferson asked in his Notes on the State of Virginia.
The true significance of the Declaration lies in its trans-historical meaning. Its appeal was not to any conventional law or political contract but to the equal rights possessed by all men and “the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and nature’s God” entitled them. What is revolutionary about the Declaration of Independence is not that a particular group of Americans declared their independence under particular circumstances but that they did so by appealing to-and promising to base their particular government on-a universal standard of justice. It is in this sense that Abraham Lincoln praised “the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times.”
The ringing phrases of the Declaration of Independence speak to all those who strive for liberty and seek to vindicate the principles of self-government. But it was an aged John Adams who, when he was asked to prepare a statement on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, delivered two words that still convey our great hope every Fourth of July: “Independence Forever.”
Using quotes from our Founding Fathers, this video leaves no debate that our country was founded on Christian principles, and even on Christ Himself.
1776 – A Tribute to American Independence
‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ (Steffe-Howe)
Happy Birthday America (Independence Day)
Happy 4th of July!
United States Armed Forces Tribute (Armed Forces Medley)
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Red Skelton In The Pledge Of Allegiance Video
MARINE STUNS A TEA PARTY WITH THE FOURTH VERSE OF THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER
God Bless!
